Kotlin Begins: A Junior Developer’s Rise in Programming
The realm of programming is a dynamic landscape, continuously evolving with new languages and frameworks that enhance developer productivity and efficiency. Among these emerging technologies, Kotlin has emerged as a language of great significance. In this blog series, we invite you to join us on our journey as junior developers, as we dive headfirst into the world of Kotlin. We will share our first-hand experiences, challenges, and triumphs as we learn and apply Kotlin for the very first time. Get ready to embark on an exciting adventure into the realm of Kotlin programming!
About the authors: The contributing authors to this series are two associates, Hannah Wilding and Jason Bowman, with the intention of documenting the journey of a junior developer.
You cannot start a blog series without first, a little background about the authors! Starting a career as a junior developer can be both exciting and challenging. Joining a new company opens up a world of opportunities to learn, grow, and contribute to real-world projects. And for us, this has begun with joining Version 1 in November ’22 — Neither of us had a background in software development or any experience in the IT industry for that matter! We were stepping into a completely new realm. However, we were determined to learn and grow in this exciting field, and hit the ground running!
Having previously just completed a 12-week intensive digital skills academy that started in September ’22, our journey began with onboarding training, where we were introduced to the world of open-source programming. We were fortunate to be placed into a team of junior developers under the guidance of a senior developer who patiently shared their knowledge and expertise with us. Additionally, we took it upon ourselves to embark on a journey of self-learning, focusing on Java as our first language. This marked the beginning of our careers as developers.
For a number of months, our focus was solely on Java. We immersed ourselves in learning about the language and even started building our own APIs. It was a valuable experience that kept us engaged while eagerly awaiting my first project. Interestingly enough, when the project finally arrived, it turned out that we would be using Kotlin instead of Java! This unexpected twist initially caught us off guard, but we quickly realised that adaptability (and many more) is a vital trait in the world of software development.
This unexpected change prompted us to switch gears and invest our time in learning Kotlin. We utilised various resources, such as CodeAcademy and Kotlin Koans in IntelliJ, to familiarise ourselves with the language. The Kotlin Koans, in particular, proved to be invaluable as they were designed as a series of exercises primarily for Java developers like us and proved to be an excellent bridge between our existing Java knowledge and the Kotlin syntax. It was incredible how quickly we became familiar with this new language, and we felt on our way to tackling our upcoming project.
Building on our newfound familiarity with Kotlin, we embarked on additional learning adventures. CodeAcademy offered us interactive courses like ‘Learn Kotlin: Introduction’ and ‘Learn Kotlin,’ which allowed us to reinforce our fundamentals while honing our problem-solving abilities through practical projects (More detail to follow in this series).
Our journey so far as junior developers at Version 1, learning our first programming language has been both challenging and rewarding. By immersing ourselves in Java and then transitioning to Kotlin, we have gained a strong foundation in two powerful languages, setting the stage for further growth in our careers as a developer.
As we reflect on our journey as junior developers, it is remarkable to see how far we have come in the past 6 months. With no prior background in software development, we have found our feet in the industry, embracing the challenges and adapting to new technologies. The combination of our determination, the guidance of our mentors, and the support of resources have been instrumental in our growth. We are excited to continue documenting this journey, reflecting upon our Kotlin learning and experiences while exploring new horizons in the ever-evolving world of software development.
Thanks for reading,
Hannah and Jason
About the Authors:
Hannah is an Associate Consultant here at Version 1 (https://medium.com/@hannah.wilding)
Jason is an Associate Consultant here at Version 1 (https://medium.com/@Jason_Bowman)
